Culture Shock in London, England

Accents – They speak English, but you still may not understand them.Unless you’ve grown up in the Harry Potter era or watched lots of English movies and such, the language may be hard for you to understand.My sister and I, whom are both major Harry Potter and English movie nerds, didn’t usually have a problem understanding the locals, but my aunt who was not a England nerd had more problems.Understanding the lingo can also depend on where they’re from in the United Kingdom.Different locations have different accents and some are much easier to understand than others.

Black taxi – Their taxis are not stereotypical yellow like in the states, but an illuminated light on top of the taxi still means it’s for hire.Black cabs can be hailed in the street, at designated ranks situated in prominent places, or can be booked by phone. Just note that the drivers will swerve in and out of traffic making you have major heart palpitations.

Red double-decker buses – Get around London in one of their iconic red double-decker buses.Even though we still couldn’t read the bus map by the end of the trip, the bus was still our most used form of transportation while we were in London.Rates are cheap, but I recommend studying the map before you head off on your trip.

The best double decker bus picture I could find out of my old photos. It’s not very good, sorry!

Bathrooms – In the United Kingdom bathrooms are called WC’s, toilets, or the loo.Most of the restrooms signs will say WC or toilets.

Fashion sense – I don’t know what it is, but I feel like British people are more stylish than in the United States.Perhaps it’s because a lot of the men were wearing suits? Make sure to stop at H&M like we did.

Salvation Army – Little known fact, but if you get lost the Salvation Army will help you get un-lost.So if you’re directionally challenged like my group was the Salvation Army may save you too.There was a nice gentleman manning the desk and he called our hotel and helped us out, he even paid for the cab fare to get from the Salvation Army to our hotel.We’ll be forever grateful for his kindness.

I have had a chance to tour the Central London on a double-decked bus in 2012. It was a beautiful city and I really admired the classic architectures. I agree, their English accent is quite difficult to understand, especially for me who’s not a native speaker.